


We're not a Circle, We're a Mobius Strip

by SonglordsBug



Series: Ties That Bind [1]
Category: Emelan - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Gen, Modern Day, Reincarnation, found family is the best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:08:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23285278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonglordsBug/pseuds/SonglordsBug
Summary: One normal morning, four people wake up with memories of a previous life. One of them believes, but the other three don't. In spite of that, they start to find each other, because some bonds run deeper than others.
Relationships: Sandrilene fa Toren & Briar Moss, Trisana Chandler & Daja Kisubo
Series: Ties That Bind [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1674604
Kudos: 27





	We're not a Circle, We're a Mobius Strip

**Author's Note:**

> crossposting from stumblr

Sandry’s parents were trust fund babies who travelled a lot and dragged her along. They end up somewhere in a bad situation, maybe it’s an outbreak of something, maybe it’s more of a violent situation (since that seems more common these days). They die, Sandry goes through trauma and the fear of the dark she’s always had gets worse. She gets taken in by her Uncle Vedris, who’s a prominent politician somewhere.

When she grows up she gets a little place of her own and a job in a crafty store that specializes in textiles and knitting and stuff. But she still helps her Uncle out, and one day, for whatever reason, he needs a plant (flowers maybe?) and she goes to the best greenhouse in the city, where she meets a certain boy.

Briar lost his parent(s) at an early age and slipped through the cracks and ended up on the streets for a while. He finally got found by the system and bounced around foster homes for a bit before ending up in a program for troubled kids (because ‘he threatened me with a knife! I don’t even know where he got it! Why does he have a knife!?).

The program helps him learn how to manage better, get his GED, and then he has a tiny little place and a job at a greenhouse. He hates his given name, which starts with an R and sounds like Roach, but has trouble getting people to call him Briar. When Sandry marches into the greenhouse and demands help, he is both baffled and amused by her.

Meanwhile, Tris was bounced around all of her family members for a while before finally ending up bouncing around the foster system at around the same time Daja lost her family. Both girls met several times while moving around. They end up part of a program that tries to help foster kids and orphans who are aging out of the system get established and the program matches them up. They end up as flatmates who bicker a lot. Tris gets a scholarship to the University and works part time at a book store. Daja is part of a metalworking program that both teaches her and pays her.

Then they all wake up one morning with their memories. Sandry is the only one who takes them at face value (the others go 'weird dream’ and shove them into the backs of their heads) and gets excited when she makes her blanket wriggle. Then she goes 'where are the others?’ before remembering that she’s seen Briar recently.

She marches back to the greenhouse to start pestering him. He has no idea what to make of this crazy person who insists that they know each other and is surprised when he finds himself calling her things like 'Duchess’. He’s starting to get annoyed when, as he’s letting himself into his place, he hears a huge clatter and some very familiar muttering. He turns around to see Sandry scrabbling for her groceries.

“Are you following me?” He demands.

“What? Is this where you live? No, I was just…” And then she goes back to trying to pick up more groceries than she can carry.

He watches for a moment before sighing and going inside to get some bags that won’t tear. He loads her groceries into the bags, picks them up, and asks 'which way’ with a scowl. Sandry primly leads the way a couple blocks over to her apartment.

A few nights later there’s a power outage and Briar, who had been neither in bed nor asleep, is running out his door before he can think. His brain doesn’t start to catch up with him until he’s on Sandry’s porch. 'She’s going to be asleep!’ 'No! She’s going to be scared!’ But his knock is a little tentative.

Sandry had woken up as soon as her nightlight went out. She managed to grab her phone and is sitting in its glow, but hasn’t found the courage to get up and find candles when she hears the knock. She might be terrified of the dark, but she’s never let it handicap her interactions with people so she goes and answers the door. When she sees Briar she just sort of collapses against him.

His arms go around her and he steps forward and kicks the door shut on autopilot. His brain finally catches up with him all the way as he’s standing there rubbing her back and murmuring reassurances. 'What’m I doing?’ 'Couldn’t leave Sandry in the dark.’ 'But this is crazy, I don’t even know her.’ 'Those plants were talking to me, and this is Sandry, this is real.’

Sandry finally gathers herself enough to look up at him and he coaxes her through helping him find candles and matches. Then he sheepishly admits that 'yeah alright this is real and the plants are talking to him and he couldn’t just leave her in the dark.’

Meanwhile, Daja doesn’t know what to make of the fact that every time she enters the forge she can hear everything from the forge and the tools to all of the metals and the fire itself singing. It’s beautiful and fascinating, but no one else seems to hear it and she’s wondering a little if she’s going crazy.

Tris has been getting twitchier and twitchier, especially on windy days. Daja finally decides they’re taking the day off and tricks Tris into coming with her. They end up out in the country in a field somewhere, sprawled on their backs watching the clouds. They start out comparing shapes which shifts into watching clouds grow.

Tris murmurs that there will be another storm that night. Daja answers that she would know. Then she shyly admits that everything at the forge has been singing to her. Tris is silent for a long time before saying that she keeps hearing things on the wind, and maybe seeing things.

They are silent again until Tris asks hesitantly if Daja thinks they can find the others. Daja answers lazily that if the two of them are here, then no doubt the other two are as well and they should just look for the nearest trouble to find them. This gets a snicker from Tris and soon enough they head back to town.


End file.
